Tinderbox

It was easy to feel smug reading bloops emanating from the jaws of the polar vortex. Over here we were doing our traditional New Year’s taunt--Hey, get a load of our weather in Pasadena!—and doing ninja-less workouts in the sunshine. But too much sunshine can be a bad thing, as I was reminded the other day

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My wife was headed to work and had the front door open. “Wow, look at that sunrise,” she said. But there was something about it that was a little too crimson.

“Those aren’t clouds, that’s smoke,” I replied. You couldn’t smell it yet, but I’d seen it many times before and knew it was time for a fire drill. A fire drill is when you go online or turn on the TV to find out where the brush fire is. This one, it turned out, was in Glendora, a little over 15 miles east.

Brush fires are always in the hills and mountains, where trees grow close together, dry weather turns the underbrush into kindling, and the Santa Ana winds provide that little extra oomph that turns a spark into an inferno. Nice homes with hillside views are threatened. Residents are urged to evacuate. Firefighters struggle in rugged terrain. And we flatlanders downwind end up with ashes raining down on our cars. Back in 1993, when our son was less than two months old, there was a fire in Altadena, just north of us, that made the air so thick we packed up the baby and fled to my in-laws’ apartment near the beach.

The first Pasadena Marathon was cancelled due to smoke from a brush fire. And a few years ago, a forest fire in the San Bernardino Mountains came within two miles of Atombuddy’s Deluxe High Altitude Training Center. It torched a number of homes in Lake Arrowhead and other mountain communities, and brought back the nagging thought, Why did we buy this place again? I spent several days nervously eyeing updates from the fire front.

With all of this in mind, I was a little nervous when we decided to go up there for Martin Luther King Weekend. Mrs. AB heard—and I don’t doubt it—that we’re in the middle of our worst drought since the Gold Rush. I mean, it hasn’t rained more than a few sad drops this winter. And ever since a cold snap in early December, it’s been unseasonably warm as well. Unlike many Southern Californians, Mrs. AB and I happen to like rain. We like it so much that we’ve talked about moving to Oregon after we retire. In fact, she’s planning to come up to Hood to Coast with me this summer, in part to scout out the PNW.

Anyway, my rain gear stayed in the closet and I ran around Lake Gregory in 65-degree weather this weekend. Mind you, this is a place where we once literally had to climb over mounds of snow on our deck to get to the front door. But with no icy patches to dodge, and despite some warning tweaks in my hip flexors, I managed 7.5 miles at 9:09 average, which is pretty decent for constantly rolling hills at high altitude. The hills and elevation kicked my butt, but in a righteous and satisfying way. And as I looked out over the lake there was little evidence of a receding shoreline. Yet.

Of course, the most immediate question (other than “Will it ever rain again?") is what this will all mean for our Surf City visitors. Probably nothing. Huntington Beach is relatively flat, thoroughly developed, and upwind of every place except the ocean. You’ll still be able to cool your aching legs in the Pacific after the race. There will be plenty of water at the aid stations and finish line, even though that might be the last fresh water you see in California. And for those of you shivering in the east, rest assured that you won’t freeze here unless you fall into your margarita.

I have an Uncle, Aunt and Cousin who live in the high desert somewhat near Edwards Air Force base. I think it was the year before last, they had a fire burn right around their house (they had evacuated). Thankfully the limited vegetation there made it possible for the firefighters to save all the houses in the area, but they were lucky, it was a very close call. (These houses are way out in the middle of nowhere and not fancy)

I'm going to hope that HTC holds off on some of the infamous rain during the weekend we are there. At least until Sunday. Pretty sure the sleep deprivation and hilly terrain will provide enough hurdles to make it well, memorable.

Hope you get some relief from the drought and fires soon. A co-worker mentioned that the California Department of Forestry had sent 12 of their air tankers down there last week (we work with CDF on one of their systems).

+1 SJB & J-Zee; I'm not partial to this ridiculous cold, but I'll take it over fires and quakes and just about any other natural disaster. I remember seeing lots of red sunrises/sunsets and smoky skies from Canada wildfires - we could even smell it sometimes - when I lived a bit further north.

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